An excellent example of a still more complicated series of actions during somnambulism is quoted by P. Max Simon.[79] It illustrates a majority of the facts which have been already brought forward, and will well reward careful consideration. “A young clergyman was in the habit of getting up in his sleep, taking paper, composing and writing sermons. When he had finished a page, he would read it over, if an action performed without the assistance of sight can be called _reading_. If dissatisfied with anything, he would blot it out, and then write the corrections with great accuracy in their appropriate place above the line. In one of these sermons he made a correction which was quite remarkable. Having in one place written the words _ce divin enfant_, on revising the page he decided to substitute the word _adorable_ instead of the word _divin_. He therefore blotted out this last word and placed the other immediately over it; then, perceiving the word _ce_, which was proper enough before the word _divin_, lacked the terminal letter _t_ that was needed before a vowel, he very adroitly added the necessary letter, so that the amended sentence correctly read _cet adorable enfant_. In order to ascertain whether the somnambulist made any use of his eyes, a cardboard was placed under his chin in such a way as to completely obstruct the view of the paper upon the table; but he continued to write without paying any attention to the obstacle. In order to ascertain whether he was aware of the presence of the objects which were before his eyes, the paper upon which he was writing was taken away, and a number of other sheets were successively slipped into its place; but he always noticed the substitution, because they differed in size. When an exactly similar piece was substituted, he accepted it as his own, and wrote down the corrections at the points which corresponded exactly with the writing upon the page which had been removed. It was by means of this ingenious stratagem that some of his nocturnal compositions were preserved. “The most astonishing thing of all,” continues the author of this article, “was the exact composition of music. A cane served him as a ruler. With it he ruled at equal distances the five necessary lines, putting in their proper place the clef, the flats and the sharps. Finally, he inscribed the notes, at first all in outline, but, when he had finished, he blackened those which should be dark. The words of the song were written below. On one occasion he happened to write them with too large a hand, so that they were not placed directly under their corresponding notes. He soon perceived this defect, and, in order to amend it, he blotted out what he had done by drawing his hand over it, and then rewrote the line of music lower down the page with all the precision imaginable.